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Jets Linebacker Looks to Add to His Game

Aaron Maybin at camp. He had six sacks for the Jets last season after having recorded none in his first two seasons with the Buffalo Bills.Credit
Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

CORTLAND, N.Y. — Aaron Maybin finds inspiration in conventional sources, like his two favorite books, “The Alchemist” and “The Secret,” but also by gazing at the ceiling in his bedroom at his New Jersey apartment.

Above his bed, there is a number. Maybin will not disclose this number, nor will he divulge what it signifies. But judging by his reaction when asked — a smile, a stifled laugh and a coy “maybe” — it probably represents how many sacks he wants to record this season, his second with the Jets.

Maybin put the number where he did so it would be the first thing he saw when he woke up and the last before he went to sleep, a guiding force as he pursues a much loftier goal.

“When you talk about Aaron Maybin, I want you to be talking about one of the most dominant players in the game,” Maybin said, sitting under a tent after a recent practice. “Not just a pass rusher. A dominant all-around player.”

A year ago at this time, Maybin was languishing in the Buffalo Bills’ training camp, having failed to supply the production befitting a linebacker drafted 11th over all: 26 games, one start, no sacks.

But like Santiago, the protagonist in “The Alchemist” who travels to the pyramids in Egypt in search of his destiny, Maybin dreams big. His legs churn as fast as his mouth, as his metabolism, as his ascent from first-round bust to sack artist, one whose desire for an expanded role has been reciprocated by a staff eager to maximize his potential.

“Absolutely,” said Mike Pettine, the Jets’ defensive coordinator. “Rex and I have already talked about it. It’s going to happen.”

It is easy to conceive Maybin’s receiving increased responsibility in passing situations: with the league trending toward a more pass-oriented style, Pettine estimated that the Jets would deploy five defensive backs in 95 percent of their play calls against their A.F.C. East rivals.

A relentless rusher off the edge, Maybin, who last season forced four fumbles and registered six sacks, could line up inside, in the middle or, as he did in Saturday night’s scrimmage, as a down lineman, depending on how Pettine leverages matchups.

But one of the more intriguing subplots of training camp is Maybin’s quest to shed his reputation as one-dimensional (according to ProFootballFocus.com, he rushed the quarterback on 94.9 percent, or 185, of his 195 passing plays last season, the most among regular 3-4 outside linebackers).

The Jets’ coaches, especially Rex Ryan, would never try to discourage him, but there is a natural progression on the journey to dominance, and it starts with viability: can Maybin evolve into a true all-around linebacker — a pass-rushing dynamo, a run-stuffing fiend, an asset in coverage?

In addressing that topic, Maybin compared himself to a power hitter in baseball. The best sluggers, he said, do not hit only fastballs. They hit curveballs and changeups and sliders, too.

“When you’re a one-trick pony, as Aaron was with his speed rush a year ago, teams can eventually scheme around that,” Pettine said.

So in the off-season, Maybin focused on two areas of improvement — self-study and bulking up, and one was more challenging than the other. Onto his iPad he loaded video cut-ups from last season, all of his plays (240 according to ProFootballFocus.com), and categorized them: speed rushes, inside stunts, spins and so on.

He evaluated his strengths and weaknesses and, at the urging of the new defensive line coach, Karl Dunbar, focused on broadening his repertory. Maybin credited Dunbar in particular with tutoring him in the long-arm technique, which is akin to a running back’s straight arm.

The other component involved something he had never been good at: adding weight.

But he can carry as much as 254 pounds, which he reached in June. Maybin grew stronger without sacrificing speed, ingesting about 5,000 calories daily to fuel his body. He still must eat like a grizzly about to hibernate to maintain his weight, which now is around 245 pounds. At lunch on Friday, Maybin piled onto his tray six chicken breasts, a heaping helping of pasta and some salad.

However, 210-pound linebackers are not incredibly useful defending the run. Pettine said Maybin, having improved his technique, was no longer as much of a liability as he was when he joined the Jets in Week 4 last year.

“Is he a trained killer against the run right now? No,” Pettine said. “But that’s more physics than anything else, a 240-pound guy up against a 340-pound lineman. There’s no issue with contact courage with Aaron. He’ll stick his face in there against anybody.”

And yap about it to anybody, too. His booming voice — no wonder his teammates call Maybin “Microphone” — tends to echo across the field where he practices his speed rush and his counters, the moves he will use to amass all the sacks he expects to amass. Just how many, that is a secret.

A version of this article appears in print on August 6, 2012, on page D12 of the New York edition with the headline: Linebacker Looks to Add to His Game. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe